Exclusive Collection Monkey with Pup

Augustus the Strong (1670-1733) envisioned the "Japanese Palace" in Dresden as the largest and most magnificent porcelain palace in the world. To realize this ambitious project, the MEISSEN^® porcelain manufactory began creating new works at full speed starting in 1731. Among them were life-sized animal sculptures that are now considered some of the finest examples of 18th-century European porcelain art.

One of these masterpieces is the figure *Mother Monkey with Young* by Johann Gottlieb Kirchner (1706-after 1738). Although Kirchner initially struggled with sculptural modeling, he went on to become, alongside Johann Joachim Kaendler, one of Meissen's leading creators of large-scale animal sculptures.

The artists based their works on scientific illustrations, stuffed animals from natural history collections, and live animals kept in the menageries and aviaries surrounding Moritzburg Castle. While Kaendler focused primarily on movement and dynamism, Kirchner was especially interested in capturing the distinctive character and expression of his figures.

In *Mother Monkey with Young*, Kirchner portrays an exhausted and stressed mother with remarkably human traits-rendered both realistically and with subtle humor. This combination of close observation of nature and expressive characterization reflects the blend of traditional and emerging artistic ideas typical of the late Baroque period.